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Cinema's Colorful Wildlife on View at Cannes

"Look at these people, this wildlife."

As the partying journalist of Paolo Sorrentino's "The Great Beauty," Toni Servillo was surveying Rome's colorful nightlife, but he might as well have been contemplating the Cannes Film Festival. The 66th edition of the Cote d'Azur extravaganza drew to a close Sunday, awarding the sensual, heartbreaking lesbian romance "Blue is the Warmest Color: The Life of Adele" the festival's top honor, the Palme d'Or.

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Longtime 'Tonight Show' Drummer Shaughnessy Dies

Ed Shaughnessy, the jazz drummer who for nearly three decades anchored the rhythm section of Doc Severinsen's "Tonight Show" band, has died in Southern California. He was 84.

William Selditz, a close family friend, tells the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/1albfp7 ) that Shaughnessy had a heart attack Friday at his home in Calabasas, outside Los Angeles.

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Birkin Handbag Sells for Record 63,800 Euros at Auction

A crocodile-skin Birkin handbag made by luxury goods firm Hermes has sold for a record 63,800 euros ($82,600) at an auction in Paris, auction house Artcurial said on Monday.

The bag, manufactured in 2006 and marked by its unusual combination of orange, red and pink colors, was sold at above its estimate of 40,000-50,000 euros at the auction on May 21, Artcurial said.

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Palestinian Public Hails Local Hero of Arab Idol

Eyes glued to big screens in cafes and restaurants across Gaza and the West Bank, adoring fans cheer on Mohammed Assaf as he sings his way closer to winning this year's Arab Idol song contest.

Since March, the handsome, immaculately dressed 22-year-old Gazan's powerful voice has propelled him every weekend to the ranks of only seven remaining singers in a Beirut-based competition that started out with 27.

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Bollywood's 100-Year Kiss Sparks Debate on Gay Films

New Bollywood film "Bombay Talkies" is billed as a milestone not only for marking 100 years of Indian cinema -- it is also one of the country's few mainstream movies ever to have shown a gay kiss.

The centenary film, which had a special screening at Cannes, comprises four self-contained short stories by leading directors looking at the impact of Indian cinema on people's lives.

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Angelina Jolie's Aunt Dies of Breast Cancer

Angelina Jolie's aunt has died of breast cancer, it was reported Sunday, less than two weeks after the Oscar-winning actress announced that she had undergone a preventative double mastectomy.

The Hollywood entertainment website E! News cited Jolie's uncle, Ron Martin, as saying that his wife, Debbie -- the younger sister of Jolie's late mother -- died early on Sunday at Palomar Hospital in Escondido, California.

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Behind the Scenes at the Cannes Film Festival

Behind the scenes at the Cannes Film Festival, which wraps on Sunday after a 12-day run:

ADIEU, LEGOLAS: Blood, sex, blood, drugs, booze, blood, and then more blood... Orlando Bloom, as a cursing, womanizing and gun-toting cop in the South African-set crime thriller "Zulu", seems intent on saying goodbye to Legolas the Elf and Will Turner, Pirate of the Caribbean.

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Polanski Blames the Pill for 'Masculinising' Women

Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski on Saturday blamed birth control pills for "masculinising" women, as he premiered what he called a satire on sexism.

Polanski unveiled "Venus in Fur" starring his wife Emmanuelle Seigner, which was the last movie in competition to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

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Cannes: Dern a Leading Man again in 'Nebraska'

For the aging, gruff patriarch of his father-son road trip "Nebraska," Alexander Payne tried to lure Gene Hackman out of retirement and considered the likes of Robert Duvall and Jack Nicholson. Bruce Dern calls them "the obvious guys."

"He said to me, 'I got an idea. Let's surprise them with you,'" Dern recalled of learning from Payne that he had the part. Payne, he says, continued: "'You haven't done this. You haven't done anything like this. Let's have fun. Let's knock their socks off.'"

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Netflix Looks to Hook Subscribers with 'Arrested'

Netflix is hoping this weekend's release of the resurrected TV series "Arrested Development" will draw more subscribers to its Internet video service.

The award-winning show about the dysfunctional Bluth family returns Sunday, seven years after Fox cancelled the series. The revival coincides with Netflix's own resounding comeback from a customer backlash over price increases and shareholders' worries about rising expenses. The adversity had raised doubts about the company's management and future.

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